A man from Queens, New York has been indicted on seven hate crime charges for stalking, harassing, and punching an Israeli tourist in New York’s Times Square while shouting genocidal slogans, Manhattan prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Yehia Amin, 28, was charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of stalking in the first degree as a hate crime, two counts of assault in the third degree as a hate crime, two counts of stalking in the third degree as a hate crime, and one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
“As alleged, Yehia Amin taunted and punched a tourist after stalking his friends and going on a vile anti-Semitic tirade that spanned several minutes,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Violence stemming from hate and discrimination will not be tolerated in Manhattan. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to hold those that cause harm accountable to ensure Manhattan is a safe place for everyone.”
According to court documents, an unnamed Jewish Israeli tourist was visiting Times Square with four friends on the morning of Oct. 18, 2023.
As the group walked up 7th Avenue from 42nd Street, they passed by Mr. Amin, who noticed the five were wearing kippahs and, recognizing that they were Jewish, began following them for several blocks while loudly playing “Hamas music” on his Bluetooth speaker and making hateful remarks toward them.
“May Allah kill you,” “May Allah kill all the Jews,” and “All Jews should die,” were some of the things Mr. Amin said as he trailed the men for 5 blocks, according to the district attorney’s report.
He also said “Hamas should kill more of you”—presumably referring to the terror group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians.
When the group reached West 47th Street, they approached a security guard to alert them about the problem, but their pursuer continued harassing them.
Not sure what to do next, the victim and his friends decided to leave Times Square. As they walked toward a nearby train station, aggressive statements continued to flow from Mr. Amin, such as “All Jews are crybabies,” “I want to die for Gaza,” etc.
Then Mr. Amin stepped up his barrage to uttering direct threats: “I want to kill you,” he said, and “I want to kill you for Gaza.”
At this point Mr. Amin had been following the victim and his friends for at least 10 minutes.
Mr. Amin then ran up behind the Israeli national and punched him hard in the back of the head, before fleeing the scene.
The five Jewish men immediately pursued the assailant. A police officer joined the chase and was able to catch up to Mr. Amin to arrest him, though this did not stop his ranting.
“I will die for Gaza,” he shouted. “God kill all the Israelis,” and “God kill all the Jewish people,” he said.
According to online records, Mr. Amin pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Tuesday.
The war between Israel and Hamas has reverberated across Muslim and Jewish communities around the world and especially in the West, leading to increased ethnic tensions and political division.
On Tuesday, the European Union’s home affairs commissioner warned of a “huge risk of terrorist attacks” over the Christmas holiday period due to heightened tensions over the situation in the Middle East.
